Grievening

"Anyone got eyes on our target yet?" Ori questions as he idly runs a hand over where his head had been severed. While no scar or any evidence of it remained, the fact his decapitated head had been shown on international news was disconcerting, to say the least.

...

"Are we just gonna pretend that ain't happenin'?" the new crew member Leo jabs a finger at the TV which was announcing that Ori's bounty had been claimed, the head serving as evidence.

"You get used to it." Lucy shrugs, picking at her nails as if all of this were beneath her.

"Still, never did get an explanation for it... You warned us to ignore this shit but why do they have your head!?" Rebecca questions rather heatedly.

"Doesn't matter, probably a fake or something to take the wind outta the protester's sails." Ori offhandedly says.

Kiwi snorts at the side, "Yeah and that's working. News's only been out for twenty minutes and people are calling you a martyr, the one Silverhand wasn't."

"They'll be disappointed to hear I'm still kickin' then. Now, let's focus on the target, y'know, doing your jobs?"

Sasha throws her hands up in the air, "It's hopeless! No one had her face and anyone who might refuse to come out with it! All her accounts are marked but she doesn't use them, and when we checked we found her apartment trashed and abandoned!"

...

"Ahem..." Ori coughs into his fist and connects with the nearby TV, bringing up V's face. "I actually managed to grab a photo of her."

...

"How...?" David questions.

"Yeah, you're acting pretty fucking shifty! What's the biz, Ori!?" Rebecca interrogates.

Leo chuckles, "Hey, my bet's on her being an ex."

"THE HELL IT IS!" the pale chibi explodes.

"All of you shut the fuck up!" Ori exclaims, "I got no relation to this bitch, I just got a photo, so take it, shut up, and find where she's at!"

...

He looks to the side and scowls as if he'd been told something unpleasant, "And remember, we take her alive." he states before walking out. Plunging the room into silence.

"Alive huh? Told you it's an ex!" Leo smirks.

"You'd be mighty fine keeping your nose where it belongs." Falco sighs, "Be a funny man somewhere else, but that ain't gonna fly much longer."

Leo tilts his head, "What? I'm just saying what we're all thinkin'. And back at you 'cow-poke' mind your own biz."

"You really wanna start this?" Falco stands, only for David to place himself between the two men.

"Chill out, Falco, he's new and doesn't know about how shit goes here. Leave it, I'll handle it."

...

Falco sighs shrugs, "Hope you know what you're doing here, kid. We've had it easy so far, but teach your buddy some respect." he says before stepping out.

"Whelp!" Rebecca hops out of her chair, "I'm headed to our friends at Colt, they'll want to know 'Zombie' ain't dead. Hey, it'll be free publicity when he makes a comeback, maybe they'll sell another set!" she skips off.

-------------------

"This is bullshit. Real bullshit." V scowls as she barrels down the road towards the Sunset Motel to meet with some merc that owes Rogue.

"What? You want her to do all the work? Suck it up." Johnny remarks from the passenger seat, his legs kicked up on the dashboard.

"No, I just wanted her to do something but throw us the leftovers. Handing us to some struggling Nomad ain't exactly preem service."

"Probably the best she can do, didn't you notice it?"

"What?"

"Those suits hanging around the Afterlife, probably Arasaka goons pushing their weight around. She does anything overt with us it'll be her on the chopping block next."

V scowls, "There's no 'Us' in this, even if there was you're leavin' soon as. I wouldn't get comfortable if I were you."

He snorts and shakes his head, "Geez, try and kill a girl once and she hates you for life. 'Hell hath no fury to a woman scorned' checks out, huh."

"Like you wouldn't know that already. All those dumb broads you-"

*Ping!*

[Recieving Call: Mama Welles...]

V blinks for a moment before letting out a sigh and parking to the side of the desert road. "Gotta take this..." she disregards Johnny and opens the call, "Mama Welles..."

"V, how are you?"

"Good..." she trails off, "Look, about Jackie-"

"No, don't give me excuses. I do not need them, he knew what he was doing and he paid for it. I'm just thankful he came home... I wanted to ask, are you coming to the memorial for Jackie?"

...

V wets her lips, "T-that's not really possible for me right now. I'm sure you've seen everything that's going on?"

Mama Welles nods, "I have, but I would still like you here, for Jackie... You and him were-, closer than I have seen him with anyone else, even that girl of his." her expression falters at the mention of Misty, "Come, for Jackie."

...

"When's it happening." V relents.

"In three days on Saturday in El Coyote Cojo, can you make it?"

...

"I'll try."

"That's all I ask. Stay safe, V."

*Beep!*

"So, this 'Jackie'... Output?" Johnny asks with a grin.

"Don't fucking start, I swear to god if you talk shit about him I'll-"

"Hah, alright, alright, I know enough to not talk shit about a lover."

"We weren't-"

"With the way you're talkin' about him? If you weren't, you wanted to be. I seen this skit all before, don't surprise me. 'Sides, you're gettin' on in years, thirty? Ain't long til your gear stops working-"

"FUCK. OFF!" she slams her foot on the accelerator in hopes of the wind killing the sound of his voice... Thankfully, it works, if temporarily.